The Texas Blueberry Festival - Been There, Done That, and What I Did With the T-Shirt

Last weekend I traveled to Nacogdoches, Texas, to attend the 23rd annual Texas Blueberry Festival. The festival fills the oldest town in Texas with visitors and vendors for a day of hometown fun for the kids, and there are so many unusual sights to see. Fresh local blueberries are sold by the truck load, and people come from all over to celebrate the little berry.

The festival is held on the town square, where the brick streets are lined with many local shops. A number of the shops stay open on festival day. I don't know about you, but I don't travel many brick lined streets, and how did that toe get in my picture?

I was out early enough to catch some of the entrants in the pet parade this year, among them, this fluffy  blue dog.

I believe this goat is wearing blueberries!

These pretties were the ones I could catch with my camera, but there were so many more!

My grandson Landon headed straight for the kids' area where he kept cool on the water slide and with lots of other fun activities.

The local heroes manned the Lost Children and First Aid area in case their services were needed. 

These two lovely SFA University theater students braved the heat in full costume to promote their afternoon performance.

I'm pretty sure it's a law in Texas that a barbecue wagon must be provided at any gathering.

And of course I had to buy the T-shirt. I was buying several for the grandchildren, so I bought one for myself too. My sister commented that she didn't believe she had ever seen me wear a T-shirt. Well, I don't usually wear them, but I could carry one.

I had an idea that by adding some ribbon, this beautiful purple T-shirt could be transformed into a cool tote bag to carry to the pool or beach. I used a similar method to the one I used when I made place mat tote bags, but with a few modifications.

I cut the sleeves off the shirt, then used a place mat to measure about how big my tote should be. I allowed for seams and also some extra height. I planned to add some ribbon around the top of the bag for stability. I cut the back and front separate because I wanted to preserve the logo on the back for a pocket.

I pressed under a small hem at the top of the front and back of the tote bag, then stitched across the pressed hem.

I then stitched wide ribbon across the top of the tote bag over the hem. To make the pocket on the back, I cut out a rectangular piece from the T-shirt back that was 6 x 9 1/2 inches.

I matched the center back of the tote to the center of the pocket for placement, then stitched the pocket to the upper back of the tote. The next step is to add the handles, and those directions can be found here.

Finally, I stitched the tote together at the sides and the bottom, then matched the side seam to the bottom seam and stitched across about 2 inches down from the point. This has to be done on both sides to give the tote shape on the bottom.

I had a great time at the blueberry festival. Many people will be wearing souvenir T-shirts from the festival, but I'll be carrying mine!





This post was shared with:
Stonegable Tutorials Tips and Tidbits
These Peas Taste Funny Link it up Thursday
Momnivore's Dilemma Creative Juice Thursday
Thriving on Thursdays Domesblissity
Mop it up Mondays
Country Momma Cooks Link and Greet
Petals to Picots Friday Party

Last weekend I traveled to Nacogdoches, Texas, to attend the 23rd annual Texas Blueberry Festival. The festival fills the oldest town in Texas with visitors and vendors for a day of hometown fun for the kids, and there are so many unusual sights to see. Fresh local blueberries are sold by the truck load, and people come from all over to celebrate the little berry.

The festival is held on the town square, where the brick streets are lined with many local shops. A number of the shops stay open on festival day. I don't know about you, but I don't travel many brick lined streets, and how did that toe get in my picture?

I was out early enough to catch some of the entrants in the pet parade this year, among them, this fluffy  blue dog.

I believe this goat is wearing blueberries!

These pretties were the ones I could catch with my camera, but there were so many more!

My grandson Landon headed straight for the kids' area where he kept cool on the water slide and with lots of other fun activities.

The local heroes manned the Lost Children and First Aid area in case their services were needed. 

These two lovely SFA University theater students braved the heat in full costume to promote their afternoon performance.

I'm pretty sure it's a law in Texas that a barbecue wagon must be provided at any gathering.

And of course I had to buy the T-shirt. I was buying several for the grandchildren, so I bought one for myself too. My sister commented that she didn't believe she had ever seen me wear a T-shirt. Well, I don't usually wear them, but I could carry one.

I had an idea that by adding some ribbon, this beautiful purple T-shirt could be transformed into a cool tote bag to carry to the pool or beach. I used a similar method to the one I used when I made place mat tote bags, but with a few modifications.

I cut the sleeves off the shirt, then used a place mat to measure about how big my tote should be. I allowed for seams and also some extra height. I planned to add some ribbon around the top of the bag for stability. I cut the back and front separate because I wanted to preserve the logo on the back for a pocket.

I pressed under a small hem at the top of the front and back of the tote bag, then stitched across the pressed hem.

I then stitched wide ribbon across the top of the tote bag over the hem. To make the pocket on the back, I cut out a rectangular piece from the T-shirt back that was 6 x 9 1/2 inches.

I matched the center back of the tote to the center of the pocket for placement, then stitched the pocket to the upper back of the tote. The next step is to add the handles, and those directions can be found here.

Finally, I stitched the tote together at the sides and the bottom, then matched the side seam to the bottom seam and stitched across about 2 inches down from the point. This has to be done on both sides to give the tote shape on the bottom.

I had a great time at the blueberry festival. Many people will be wearing souvenir T-shirts from the festival, but I'll be carrying mine!





This post was shared with:
Stonegable Tutorials Tips and Tidbits
These Peas Taste Funny Link it up Thursday
Momnivore's Dilemma Creative Juice Thursday
Thriving on Thursdays Domesblissity
Mop it up Mondays
Country Momma Cooks Link and Greet
Petals to Picots Friday Party

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

A Packed Weekend

I don't think one more thing could have been packed into my weekend.
We started Saturday morning at the 22nd annual Texas Blueberry Festival in Nacogdoches. We were part of a crowd of about 19,000 people converged in the downtown area. Vendors lined both sides of the brick streets of the oldest town in Texas.  Many of the area businesses were open as well, some with special activities, cooking demonstrations, or entertainment inside.

There was also a pet parade and inflatable entertainment for the kids, along with several outdoor stages for music and all kinds of food offerings. Many groups handed out free ice cold water bottles in the unrelenting Texas heat.

But, of course, the star of the festival was the blueberry.

About 20,000 pounds of freshly picked blueberries were sold at the festival this year.

 

Mill Creek Farm is a local blueberry farm, and they bring in trailer truck loads of the freshly picked blueberries to sell. Or, they provide the option of a shuttle out to the farm if festival goers want the experience of picking their own blueberries.

After several hours of the festival the kids needed some cooling off time in the pool.

Angela opted for the shade.

That evening Henry made Acapulco Shrimp Cocktail that was amazing.

He also made guacamole, and his is world class!

And those were just the appetizers!


I'm going to try making the Acapulco Shrimp Cocktail soon, so the recipe is forthcoming!

Sunday morning Helen was up early making blueberry pancakes. These weren't just regular blueberry pancakes, her recipe has lemon zest that makes them extra special.

Charlie is a huge fan of blueberries and blueberry pancakes.

The weekend was over, but the kids did get the T-shirt to take home.

After breakfast it was time to get in the car and head home. It seemed that I spent a great deal of time in the car driving this weekend, but it was well worth it for the time I got to spend with the family.

Now I'll just have to decide what to make with all these blueberries.

I don't think one more thing could have been packed into my weekend.
We started Saturday morning at the 22nd annual Texas Blueberry Festival in Nacogdoches. We were part of a crowd of about 19,000 people converged in the downtown area. Vendors lined both sides of the brick streets of the oldest town in Texas.  Many of the area businesses were open as well, some with special activities, cooking demonstrations, or entertainment inside.

There was also a pet parade and inflatable entertainment for the kids, along with several outdoor stages for music and all kinds of food offerings. Many groups handed out free ice cold water bottles in the unrelenting Texas heat.

But, of course, the star of the festival was the blueberry.

About 20,000 pounds of freshly picked blueberries were sold at the festival this year.

 

Mill Creek Farm is a local blueberry farm, and they bring in trailer truck loads of the freshly picked blueberries to sell. Or, they provide the option of a shuttle out to the farm if festival goers want the experience of picking their own blueberries.

After several hours of the festival the kids needed some cooling off time in the pool.

Angela opted for the shade.

That evening Henry made Acapulco Shrimp Cocktail that was amazing.

He also made guacamole, and his is world class!

And those were just the appetizers!


I'm going to try making the Acapulco Shrimp Cocktail soon, so the recipe is forthcoming!

Sunday morning Helen was up early making blueberry pancakes. These weren't just regular blueberry pancakes, her recipe has lemon zest that makes them extra special.

Charlie is a huge fan of blueberries and blueberry pancakes.

The weekend was over, but the kids did get the T-shirt to take home.

After breakfast it was time to get in the car and head home. It seemed that I spent a great deal of time in the car driving this weekend, but it was well worth it for the time I got to spend with the family.

Now I'll just have to decide what to make with all these blueberries.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad